Analysis of The Lakeside
John Greenleaf Whittier 1807 (Haverhill) – 1892 (Hampton Falls)
The shadows round the inland sea
Are deepening into night;
Slow up the slopes of Ossipee
They chase the lessening light.
Tired of the long day's blinding heat,
I rest my languid eye,
Lake of the Hills! where, cool and sweet,
Thy sunset waters lie!
Along the sky, in wavy lines,
O'er isle and reach and bay,
Green-belted with eternal pines,
The mountains stretch away.
Below, the maple masses sleep
Where shore with water blends,
While midway on the tranquil deep
The evening light descends.
So seemed it when yon hill's red crown,
Of old, the Indian trod,
And, through the sunset air, looked down
Upon the Smile of God.
To him of light and shade the laws
No forest skeptic taught;
Their living and eternal Cause
His truer instinct sought.
He saw these mountains in the light
Which now across them shines;
This lake, in summer sunset bright,
Walled round with sombering pines.
God near him seemed; from earth and skies
His loving voice he beard,
As, face to face, in Paradise,
Man stood before the Lord.
Thanks, O our Father! that, like him,
Thy tender love I see,
In radiant hill and woodland dim,
And tinted sunset sea.
For not in mockery dost Thou fill
Our earth with light and grace;
Thou hid'st no dark and cruel will
Behind Thy smiling face!
Scheme | ABCBDEDE FGFGCHCH IJIJXKXK BFBFXXXX LALAMNMN |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (33%) |
Metre | 011011 1100011 110111 1101001 101011101 111101 11011101 11101 01010101 1010101 11010101 010101 01010101 111101 1110101 010101 11111111 1101001 0101111 010111 11110101 110101 11000101 110101 11110001 110111 1101011 11111 11111101 110111 1111010 110101 111010111 110111 01001011 01011 110100111 1011101 111110101 011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,215 |
Words | 226 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 195 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 45 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:09 min read
- 190 Views
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"The Lakeside" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/23128/the-lakeside>.
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